Dina Merrill

Average customer rating:

Hilarious movie.
A Movie for All.
Operation Petticoat
Judy
The Pink Loveboat

Operation Petticoat
Starring: Cary Grant , Tony Curtis , Joan O'Brien , Dina Merrill , and Gene Evans
Director: Blake Edwards
Manufacturer: Republic Pictures
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Father Goose
Mister Roberts
Houseboat (Ws Sub)
That Touch of Mink
Donovan's Reef

ASIN: B00005N90X
Release Date: 2001-09-18

Amazon.com

Blake Edwards's delightful 1959 comedy stars Cary Grant as a World War II submarine captain whose preference for a by-the-book command reluctantly yields to certain realities. Chief among those is that Grant's first officer (Tony Curtis, who impersonated Grant that same year in Billy Wilder's Some Like It Hot), a shameless hustler, is better than the navy at delivering whatever supplies the ship and crew need to keep going. But when Curtis sneaks a handful of Philippine refugees and several gorgeous nurses onto the all-male sub, the skipper not only has to cool down his crew but deal with an unexpected feminine influence on ship protocol. The film is a great deal of fun, sprinkled with the director's trademark sight gags (including one of Edwards's best, involving a torpedo and jeep), and graced with his unmistakable lilt. Grant is in great form, his comic brilliance almost impossibly effortless. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

Hilarious movie........2007-05-30

Ranks right up there with "Father Goose" as one of Cary Grant's funniest movies. Great family fun.

A Movie for All........2007-05-14

This is one of my favorite oldie's. I had pretty much worn my VHS out and needed another one, so the DVD had to be the new choice. Always loved Gary Grant. It's a good clean movie and very enjoyable. The type of movie I can let the grandchildren watch with no worries. I don't like most of the movies that are made today, so I still stick the good older ones. There are sooooo many laughs in this movie and yes, most of the time I watch it by myself. If you are havin or had a bad day, this movie will lift you spirit. Buy it, you wont be sorry.

Operation Petticoat.......2007-05-14

I love this movie. I like most of Cary Grant's movies. This movie is very funny and entertaining. Why can't the film industry make good movies like this anymore?

Judy.......2007-04-10

Tony Randall and Cary Grant are excellent in this flick !! This is one of my favorite movies, even if it is an "oldie". I have seen it 20 times and still laugh.

The Pink Loveboat.......2007-02-16

One of my favorite movies of all time. Cary Grant and Tony Curtis were in their prime. A great family movie from the classics.

Average customer rating:

Hepburn/Tracy fun!
I Adore This Movie!
Tracy and Hepburn
Desk Set
Desk Set DVD

Desk Set
Starring: Spencer Tracy , Katharine Hepburn , Gig Young , Joan Blondell , and Dina Merrill
Director: Walter Lang
Manufacturer: 20th Century Fox
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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The Hepburn & Tracy Signature Collection (Woman of the Year / Pat and Mike / Adam's Rib / The Spencer Tracy Legacy)
Bringing Up Baby (Two-Disc Special Edition)
Adam's Rib
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
The Philadelphia Story

ASIN: B0001NBMAS
Release Date: 2004-05-04

Amazon.com essential video

One of the later Spencer Tracy-Katharine Hepburn matchups, this time pitting efficiency expert--sorry, that's "methods engineer"--Richard Sumner (Tracy) against TV-network research whiz Bunny Watson (Hepburn) over adding a new-fangled computer--again, sorry, that's "electronic brain"--to her department, thereby threatening her and her colleagues' livelihoods. Gig Young appears as Bunny's beau, an ambitious network executive who strings her along and becomes apoplectic at the idea that she doesn't need him. But as always, it's Hepburn and Tracy's bickering-flirting that makes this such a winning enterprise--a lunch date that turns into an interrogation and their sly repartee during a Christmas party are a couple of the movie's hilarious highlights. Interestingly, what starts out as something of a technophobic exercise--Hepburn fears for her job, and a computer goes haywire--takes an abrupt turn (perhaps the IBM product placement had something to do with that). Briskly scripted by Henry and Phoebe Ephron (Nora and Delia's parents) from a play by William Marchant. --David Kronke

Description

Bunny Watson (Katharine Hepburn) heads up the research department at the Federal Broadcasting Company, a major TV network. And she does her job very well, thank you very much. Assigned by the network president to introduce computers into some of the department?s functions, Richard Sumner (Spencer Tracy) arrives at Bunny?s well-run division to observe daily activities. Unfortunately, however, Sumner is ordered to keep his mission secret. As a result, the whole staff believes they are being replaced. To make matters worse, there appears to be more than a little electricity between Bunny and Sumner, which upsets Bunny?s boyfriend Mike (Gig Young). As the tension mounts in the office, so do the laughs in this classic romantic comedy.

Customer Reviews:

Hepburn/Tracy fun!.......2007-05-06

Love this movie.
The subtle humor coupled with the great on screen chemistry of Katharine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy make this movie a great addition to anyone's collection.

I Adore This Movie!.......2007-04-14

I watch this about once a year and never get tired of it. Hepburn and Tracy are great together as usual. The company setting is appealing, and makes me yearn for the pre-PC days when big companies had bars, Christmas parties with drinking and revelry, etc. It's a Christmas movie out of the ordinary.

My favorite scene is when it's raining and Tracy goes home with Hepburn. They are all cozy with a fire and fried chicken and floating island, only to be walked in upon by the wonderfully arrogant Gig Young. Sometimes I just watch this scene alone!

I also love the line near the end of the movie where Young says he's been thinking and Hepburn asks him what that was like.

A delight!

Tracy and Hepburn.......2007-04-12

can make any movie a great one. This one leaves nothing to be desired. Great movie and great dialogue.

Desk Set.......2007-01-21

This is great movie for fans of Katherine Hepburn and Spencer Tracy. It's also a great movie if you are a lover of classic movies. It's a good comedy, and Hepburn and Tracy are terrific in this movie genre. Some people will find it interesting what technology was like about fifty years ago and the effect it had on people at that time. It's the kind of comedy that will keep you laughing without getting raunchy or unpleasant. Baby boomers will enjoy this, and so will younger people.

Desk Set DVD.......2007-01-11

You can't really go wrong with Spencer Tracy and Katherine Hepburn. I love this movie and had only ever seen it on TV. It is so much better in widescreen on this DVD. It was like seeing a new movie. THe colors are rich and deep, the scope give a whole new level to the movie. I would recommend this to anyone. It is a witty, sharp, funny, holiday, romantic, smart movie and it looks great.

Average customer rating:

Superb!
You mean Andy Griffith wasn't Opey's first dad?!
Sweet, Sappy, Feel Good Movie
Minnelli's Surprising Mix of Melodrama and Domestic Comedy With an Impressive Turn by Ron Howard
Lazily entertaining

The Courtship of Eddie's Father
Starring: Glenn Ford , Shirley Jones , Stella Stevens , Dina Merrill , and Roberta Sherwood
Director: Vincente Minnelli
Manufacturer: Turner Home Ent
ProductGroup: DVD
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A Hole in the Head
Pocketful of Miracles
Do Not Disturb
Move Over Darling
With Six You Get Eggroll

ASIN: B00008MTY8
Release Date: 2004-06-01

Amazon.com

Decades may pass, but The Courtship of Eddie's Father never loses any of its abundant charm. Long before he became an Oscar®-winning director, 8-year-old "Ronny" Howard (then appearing on TV's The Andy Griffith Show) costarred with Glenn Ford in this heartwarming family classic, later adapted into a TV series (1969-72) starring Bill Bixby and Brandon Cruz. While the later show adopted a hip, late-'60s sensibility, this 1963 production is more straight-laced and, for its time, remarkably frank--and disarmingly funny--about the many questions that precocious son Eddie (Howard) has for his widower father (Ford) as they recover from the death of wife and mother. A perfect director for this delicate material (wonderfully adapted from Mark Toby's novel), Vincente Minnelli hits all the right notes of sadness, hope, and parental concern; Ford's unspoken love for a helpful neighbor (Shirley Jones) may be a foregone conclusion, but romantic subplots (and Eddie's diligent matchmaking) add plenty of domestic drama. Sweet but never saccharine, this timeless Courtship is guaranteed to make you smile. --Jeff Shannon

Description

The film that started the classic TV series. Although he's only seven, Eddie's got it all figured out. He wants his father, a widower, to get remarried - to the girl next door. Unfortunately, she's not one of the women that his dad's been dating. Sweet family comedy.

Customer Reviews:

Superb!.......2007-03-16

Vincente Minnelli directed, so visually it's incredible, did any other director pay such attention to set decor, lighting, and making his stars look beautiful? (The chief benefactors here are Dina Merrill, Shirley Jones, and Stella Stevens, all beautifully turned-out and photographed to their loveliest.)
Glenn Ford and Ron(nie) Howard both were deserving of Oscar nominations, i think it may be Ford's most versatile performance ever, and the very young Howard had remarkable range and his performance, i believe, stands the test of time and remains one of the best acting jobs by a child ever recorded on film.
The commentary by Jones, Merrill, and Stevens is very revealing and interesting-Jones (who admits to having wanted to play the Stella Stevens role) notes that Minnelli wasn't so much a director of actors as a director of visual splendor, and while she states she had wished for more direction from Minnelli, she does so without insulting his memory or legacy. Dina Merrill comes across as the liveliest commentator here, with the happiest memories of the film. Stevens'comments compliment the other 2 actresses' very nicely.
In my opinion, Glenn Ford walks away with the movie, and this very under-appreciated actor seems in many ways to have been the George Clooney of his day, in terms of oozing charisma complimented by a no-nonsense, no-frills approach to acting. Yet, in this film, Ford shows he had plenty of technique, mastering difficult crying scenes one minute, heated anger with the Jones character another, and learning to parent his motherless son with increasing sensitivity as the film progresses. Intricate, touching, funny, sad, life-affirming story of a suddenly-single father learning to raise a young son on his own, when it likely was the last thing he ever expected to be doing. This theme would be revisited decades later by Dustin Hoffman in 'Kramer vs. Kramer' but Ford did it first here, and beautifully.
He truly was leading man material.
And once again, there's the lush visual artistry of Vincente Minnelli to enjoy- (Dina Merrill offers a fun comment about an Italian restaurant scene, saying, 'Has anyone ever seen such a beautiful looking Italian restaurant in real life? Eat at Minnelli's!") as she clearly enjoys watching the film again while fondly remembering Ford, Minnelli and how impressed everyone was with the young Ron Howard. Really a nice movie.

You mean Andy Griffith wasn't Opey's first dad?!.......2007-01-10

Glen Ford and Ron Howard together as father and son. Great movie

Sweet, Sappy, Feel Good Movie.......2006-11-13

I'm a sucker for cute kids. I've loved Opie forever! In this movie he's at his cutest! It's nothing like the TV version was. This is Shirley Jones first non-singing movie and she's great with Glenn Ford. It's a great movie to watch with your kids. Eddie isn't like some of the snotty kids you see in movies today. He isn't overly sweet or sensitive. He's just lost his mother and trying to come to grips with both that and the fact he doesn't like not having a woman in the house. He's not afraid to talk to his dad about it, either. His directions on how to tell a "good" woman from a "bad" one kill me every time I watch it. I'm tired of the smart-aleck, know-it-alls you get in today's cinema. Sometimes I just would like to see a kid be a kid. And this movie grants my wish BIGTIME!!

Minnelli's Surprising Mix of Melodrama and Domestic Comedy With an Impressive Turn by Ron Howard.......2006-10-24

I used to love the early 1970's TV series which took its premise from this 1963 movie, so it was with some trepidation that I finally saw the original film directed by Vincente Minnelli. For such a family-oriented vehicle, his sometimes excessive filmmaking style shows up in subtle ways throughout the picture, and that's what primarily makes it interesting viewing now. The film starts out as an amusing domestic comedy, periodically hints toward deeper issues of grief and single parenthood, and then dives headlong into melodrama in the last half-hour. The result is pure Minnelli.

The other memorable aspect is eight-year old Ron Howard, sixth-billed and then known as Ronny, who delivers the central performance of Eddie without resorting to precociousness. More than his adult co-stars, he brings all the elements of the film together on an emotional level that resonates. Written by Tom Gay, the plot focuses on Eddie's attempts to reinvigorate the love life of his recently widowed father Tom. The likely candidate appears to be the pretty, recently divorced nurse next door, Elizabeth, but Tom and she start off on the wrong foot despite the fact that Eddie adores her. Efforts get refocused on Dolly, a vacuous, curvaceous girl they meet at the arcade, but Tom redirects her to womanizing disc jockey Norman. Tom then meets socialite Rita, whose glaring lack of a maternal instinct alienates Eddie to the point of running away.

All ends inevitably but not before some startling scenes like Eddie traumatized by the sight of his dead fish and Tom careening recklessly in his car to find Eddie (it looks like a similarly hair-raising scene on an Italian hillside road in Minnelli's "Two Weeks in Another Town"). In fact, the climactic argument between Tom and Elizabeth is surprisingly vitriolic for a family picture. Not the most charismatic of actors, Glenn Ford is solid as Tom, while a non-singing Shirley Jones plays Elizabeth with dexterity. The other performances are a bit more on the pat side - Stella Stevens lovably dim as Dolly, Jerry Van Dyke his recognizably unctuous self as Norman and Dina Merrill all slithery glamour as Rita. There are no extras with the 2004 DVD.

Lazily entertaining.......2006-08-27

With so many movies and television shows being blood-splattered and cluttered with fantasy gore, it's nice to relax and watch a movie that doesn't make you cringe at either mayhem or profanity.
Usual, predictable plot for this type offering. Introduction to principals, conflict and resolution of same. You want rocket science, this is not your fare.
Nice, easy, comfortable movie an entire family can enjoy.

The Player (Special Edition) (New Line Platinum Series)

Average customer rating:

Who Better to Skewer Hollywood Than Altman?
A Movie for Movie Buffs
All's fair in love and moviemaking
Altman scores again
More fun for trivia buffs than fans of slick satire

The Player (Special Edition) (New Line Platinum Series)
Starring: Tim Robbins , Greta Scacchi , Fred Ward , Whoopi Goldberg , and Peter Gallagher
Director: Robert Altman
Manufacturer: New Line Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Nashville
Short Cuts - Criterion Collection
McCabe & Mrs. Miller
The Long Goodbye
Gosford Park

ASIN: 0780618564
Release Date: 1997-07-16

Amazon.com

A wicked satirical fable about corporate backstabbing--and actual murder--in the movie business, The Player benefits from director Robert Altman's long and bitter experience working within, and without, the Hollywood studio system. Rising young executive Griffin Mill (Tim Robbins) is tormented by threats from an anonymous writer. The pressure and paranoia build until Griffin loses control one night and semi-accidentally kills screenwriter David Kahane (Vincent D'Onofrio), who may or may not be the source of the threats. From that point, Griffin's life and career begin to fall apart. In keeping with the ironic spirit of the film itself, Altman's scathingly funny attack on the moral bankruptcy of Hollywood was embraced by many of the same people it was intended to savage, and restored the director to commercial and critical favor. Michael Tolkin adapted the screenplay from his own novel, and the movie is studded with cameos by famous faces, many of whom appear as themselves. The digital video disc includes a commentary track with Altman and Tolkin, some deleted scenes, a documentary about Altman, and a key to help identify more than 50 of the picture's big-name cameos. --Jim Emerson

Customer Reviews:

Who Better to Skewer Hollywood Than Altman?.......2007-02-24

"The Player" was a comeback film for Robert Altman, whose fortunes had declined in the 80s. He threw himself into the briar-patch and stirred up a wicked satire on Dream City. Even though I suspect the reality is even worse and more outrageous than what Altman gives us here, so too was the Korean War in comparison with "M*A*S*H." A must-see for Altman fans; for others, a good movie.

A Movie for Movie Buffs.......2007-02-10

In the realm of satire, "The Player" is one of the best. A viscous, funny satire about Hollywood that can easily be called one of Robert Altman's best films. This is a movie buff movie, in the sense that it is jam-packed with film references and celebrity cameos. Not only is it entertaining, well made, well written, and well acted. It's fun to watch. Tim Robbins plays Griffin Mill, a Hollywood hotshot studio executive who is in danger of losing his job. Around the same time, he begins receiving anonymous death threats from a rejected screenwriter (Vincent D'Onofrio). Upon learning who the screenwriter is, he meets him at a movie theatre. Their meeting ends with Griffin killing the man. Making the death look like a botched robbery, Griffin tries to return to normal but finds that he's being followed by a mysterious man (Lyle Lovett) and is questioned frequently by a pair of cops (one of who is Whoopi Goldberg). To top it off, Griffin finds himself falling for the screenwriter's girlfriend. The movie's huge cast includes Fred Ward, Malcolm McDowell, Julia Roberts, Bruce Willis, Nick Nolte, Kim Basinger, Alec Baldwin, Lily Tomlin, Susan Sarandon, Scott Glenn, and many others...Many appearing only in mere cameos. Not a lot of director's could handle this sort of material. Only Robert Altman could have gathered as many actors for one film and not turned into a forced, convoluted film. Altman was a fantastic director who made many great films over the course of his long career ('McCabe & Mrs. Miller' & 'Short Cuts' & 'M*A*S*H' to name a few) and "The Player" ranks right up there with the best. It cuts down deep to the center of Hollywood, exposing the darkside of it and doesn't candy coat anything. The movie accomplishes what Billy Wilder did with 'Sunset Boulevard.' He tells it exactly how it is. Some people won't like the film...As I said it has a lot of movie references. Many of which most people won't understand. This isn't a movie for the casual film viewer. But it is one of the best satires around and certainly one of the best HOLLYWOOD satires around. Definitely worth seeing.

GRADE: A

R.I.P.
Robert Altman

All's fair in love and moviemaking.......2007-01-18

Everybody in Hollywood takes the cheap-and-dirty approach to success -- even to successful murder.

That's the theme to Robert Altman's bitter, tart, and hilarious black comedy "The Player," based on Michael Tolkin's novel. The caustic observations and barbed wit bring Hollywood's nastiness to light, and Altman's minimalist direction only underscores the brilliant script and acting.

Exec Griffin (Tim Robbins) is nervous enough about his increasingly imperilled job. But then postcards with death threats start arriving -- apparently from a writer he lied to months ago. After some research, he thinks he's found the guy -- David Kahane (Vincent D'Onofrio), a POed writer whose script he mercilessly rejected. After a disastrous meeting with David, Griffin kills him in an alley.

But that's not the end -- the threatening messages keep coming, and Griffin becomes more desperate as he becomes a suspect in Kahane's murder. He also becomes fascinated by David's chilly artist girlfriend (Greta Scacchi), and tries to bury his fear in an awkward love affair. But as the investigation heats up, Griffin is threatened with the ultimate cancellation.

If "The Player" has a meaning, it's that everyone who wants power in Hollywood has to sell their souls -- legally, personally, or just by selling out so your movie has a pat happy ending. Like planets being sucked into a black hole, they all get pulled in by the lure of affluence -- they don't even notice their souls vanishing!

It's also wickedly funny to watch. Altman peppers the movie with celebrity cameos (John Cusack, Anjelica Huston, Bruce Willis, to name a few). The dialogue is simply brilliant -- at one point, Robbins muses, "I was just thinking what an interesting concept it is to eliminate the writer from the artistic process. If we could just get rid of these actors and directors, maybe we've got something here." Talk about a reality TV prediction.

Altman's style is minimalist here, with lots of tense moments, sexy interludes -- right up to the ironic twist finale, which makes you wonder for a moment just how much of "The Player" is really fiction. And during dramatic scenes (the murder, the cobra, the phone calls), Altman stretches the tension as taut as a wire, and leaves it to slowly slacken over the scenes that follow. The only scene that doesn't work is the police interrogation with Whoopi Goldberg. Really, it's cringeworthy.

Tim Robbins is simply brilliant as the cold-blooded Griffin, especially since he looks so boyish and bewildered -- you don't know whether to cheer for or against him. Scacchi is quite good as the even chillier painter who falls for him, and the other characters are pure satire -- the movie creators don't watch movies, and if they did, they'd only want to remake it with a happy ending.

"The Player" is one of those brilliant movies that skewer Hollywood, and make you glad that it exists... just so long as it occasionally gives us a piece of satire like this one, instead of a mindless blockbuster. Hilarious and needling.

Altman scores again.......2007-01-09

The Players is Altman's sardonic, tongue-in-cheek look at Hollywood. The opening shot alone is worth the price of admission. It's a continuous tracking shot that must last over 10 minutes without a cut (I've not timed its length, but I should). If you've ever wondered how Hollywood films get made, see this film. But, remember, too, that it's a lot more than a look at the workings of Hollywood filmdom. It's funny, sarcastic, and, at the same time, deep. I highly recommend it.

More fun for trivia buffs than fans of slick satire.......2007-01-07

Full disclosure: I'm not an Altman fan, as I feel his best attributes were borrowed from superior directors-- a high-brow DePalma, if you will. But I have heard from many, many people that 'The Player' is a must-see for any movie buff, especially for those who bemoan the steady decline of the Hollywood product since its golden era. So Altman notwithstanding (R.I.P.), I viewed the movie as objectively as possible, based on its own merits, and wasn't too impressed.

The story is fairly boilerplate: a whiz-kid studio exec, overvalued and pushed to the brink of paranoia, accidentally kills a screenwriter whom he mistakenly thinks has been sending him threatening postcards. Deception and mayhem ensue. I suppose it plays the dime-novel plotline for ironic laughs, but it's not very conducive to suspense (even fake suspense), and there isn't much real humor involved either, unless you find relentless 'inside' references to classic flicks, celebrities, hackneyed treatments and industry power brokers funny (I'll admit I had fun catching as many of those nods as I could, but I was in the mood for a movie, not a game show). The script is adequate, but not bitingly clever; the direction capable, but certainly not exceptional, particularly taken as homage. The worst aspect by far, though, are the performances, which range from mediocre to awful. Now, to be fair, when you cast scads of entertainers whose skill sets vary drastically (try Lyle Lovett's dramatic chops vs. Richard E. Grant's), you can't expect miracles-- but a filmmaker ought to be prepared to deal with that problem when his subject matter revolves around the sad state of modern filmmaking, no? And some of the worst acting comes from Tim Robbins as the lead character, Griffin Mills. I'll concede he was young and relatively inexperienced at the time, but he is too much a lightweight (literally) to fill the $2000 suits he wears.

Others may feel that hit-and-miss production quality in a movie parodying the movie biz is appropriate, but by those standards 'Burn, Hollywood, Burn' must be a masterpiece. Effective satire and black comedy make up a rare and precious genre that relies on precise execution to work, and I find there are just too many flaws here. For a film that purports to diagnose the ills of contemporary Hollywood, 'The Player' could certainly use a good dose of its own medicine.

Average customer rating:

Only if you're a collector and want to finish your Caddyshack series!
NOT "ON PAR" WITH THE ORIGINAL! NOT EVEN CLOSE!
You know you're in trouble when....
Blah, Blah....All the negative reviews are exactly the same
Quite possible the worst and most unfunny sequel ever made

Caddyshack 2
Starring: Jackie Mason , Robert Stack , Dyan Cannon , Dina Merrill , and Jonathan Silverman
Director: Allan Arkush
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Fletch Lives
Spies Like Us
Funny Farm
The Legend of Bagger Vance
Happy Gilmore (Special Edition)

ASIN: 0790742012
Release Date: 1999-05-18

Amazon.com

Jackie Mason is the best thing going in this otherwise negligible sequel to the already-dubious pleasures of Caddyshack. Between the decadent and often senseless jokes, Mason plays a millionaire whose daughter wants to be part of an upper-crust society he has no use for. Directed by Allan Arkush (Rock 'n' Roll High School), there is some snap to the production; but the concept and script run out of juice early on. --Tom Keogh

Description

A comedy about a construction tycoon who tries to join a snobby country club that doesn't want him as a member. The tycoon's solution is to buy the club where his fate boils down to a climactic golf match.

Customer Reviews:

Only if you're a collector and want to finish your Caddyshack series!.......2007-05-25

Seriously, I hadn't seen this movie for quite some time until a month ago. I bought it, thinking that it would be as funny as I remembered it 10 years ago. I was wrong. Everything falls short in this movie, except for Randy Quaid, who's a scene stealer. I'd only recommend this one for those people who collect movies and want to finish off their Caddyshack collection.

NOT "ON PAR" WITH THE ORIGINAL! NOT EVEN CLOSE!.......2007-05-13

I remember the first time I saw this uneven and mostly unfunny sequel to the classic original. I felt violated and wanted redemption for the injustice that was bestrode upon me! I must admit that I have mellowed over the years on this movie and feel it does have a few moments. Randy Quaid is by far the best thing in this movie and his negotiation scene about the(Peter Blunt System)zoning laws is hysterical. Jackie Mason is no Dangerfield,but he does have a few moments. This is not essential viewing by any means, but if you have seen the original as many times as I have, you may be able to find some redeeming moments in this luke warm sequel.

You know you're in trouble when...........2006-08-22

...Chevy Chase is the ONLY person from the original CADDYSHACK to come back. If you told him that NOTHING BUT TROUBLE 2 was to begin shooting tomorrow, he'd be setting his alarm and warming up his mugging in the mirror before hitting the sack.

The script for CADDYSHACK 2 was so horrible that Rodney Dangerfield refused to do it. I remember reading at the time that the studio was finally exercizing a clause in Rodney's original contract that stipulated that he appear in the sequel since the first film made a lot of money and, rather than appear in this wretched sequel, he opted to fight it out in court.
(Even the original cast of ROMANCING THE STONE collectively couldn't fight their way out of their stinking follow-up, THE JEWEL OF THE NILE--and even danced in the music video!).

But Rodney prevailed. Take away Rodney, Bill Murray (who sounds like he literally improvised his entire role the first time around), and the late Ted Knight, and all you've got is the gopher. The gopher, a good Kenny Loggins song (wasted), and a lot of mindless schtick that wouldn't have made it through the first writers' meeting for "The Carol Burnett Show."
Robert Stack has too much class and testosterone to be a stuffy snob. Dan Aykroyd humiliates himself and gives Chevy Chase a run for the I'll-Do-Anything-For-A-Buck award. And Jackie Mason...has this guy ever been funny? I laughed at his Ed Sullivan impersonation in 1975 or so...but what's he done?

CADDYSHACK played like a haphazard but hilarious comedy by young upstarts storming Hollywood.
CADDYSHACK 2 plays like grandma and grandpa would like to take a whack at this funny flickers business as well.
Ugh.

Blah, Blah....All the negative reviews are exactly the same.......2006-07-02

And all the negative reviews are just a carbon copy of what the critics all had to say about his movie....My point is, why listen to a bunch of sheep that prolly never even watched this movie? Why listen to people that can't form their own opinions...

I vividly remember watching this movie as young,young kid (prolly too immature for their content) with my older brother and his friends and laughing hysterically....And over the years, I still find this to be one of the great comedies...

Is it as good as the original Caddyshack? No....But it's still a great comedy on its own....Yeah, its a bit raunchy and little cliche'd , but you can't deny some of the outrageously funny scenes...Dan Akroyd's performance as a former Vienam Vet is unforgettable.And so was Randy Quaid as the wacky and eccentric lawyer..Again, Chevy Chase comes through as well...Robert Stack plays the wealthy and very stuffy Chandler and plays to role to a tee....They younger characters are brilliant as well in this film...But the real star of the film is 'Jack Hartoonian' (Jackie Gleason) who's flamboyant, outgoing personality provides the perfect anthesis to the stuffy atmosphere at Bushwood Country Club....

Its been well over 15 years since its release and I still find this movie hilarious....I would normally give it 5 stars, but since it doesn't quite measure up to its origianl, I'll give it a 4....

Quite possible the worst and most unfunny sequel ever made.......2006-06-14

Avoid this movie like the plague. I can't think of one funny gag throughout the whole movie, and you can't help but feel sorry for Jackie Mason who is so much better than the script.

It must have been desperate times for Chevy Chase and Dan Akyroyd to even consider appearing in this abomination of a movie.

Simply a disgrace to the original.

Average customer rating:

HOT!! HOT!! HOT!!
"Liz IS big. It's the picture that got small"
BOTH Fullscreen and Widescreen!
As MGM soap opera, as conventional romantic tragedy, the movie is flavorless, but not impossible, and Liz is all right...
Pure, campy fun

BUtterfield 8
Starring: Elizabeth Taylor , Laurence Harvey , Eddie Fisher , Dina Merrill , and Mildred Dunnock
Director: Daniel Mann
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Cat on a Hot Tin Roof (Deluxe Edition)
Suddenly, Last Summer
A Place in the Sun
Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf? (Two-Disc Special Edition)
From the Terrace

ASIN: B00004TX2E
Release Date: 2000-09-19

Amazon.com essential video

"I was the slut of all time!" declares Elizabeth Taylor in the role for which she won her first Academy Award®. Taylor plays Gloria, a model of loose morals who discovers a last chance at love and redemption when she spends a week with Weston Ligget (Laurence Harvey), a man who married into money and hates himself for it. They fall in love, but before they can find happiness they have to overcome their own worst natures. BUtterfield 8 (named after Gloria's answering service) is a big boozy melodrama, full of gorgeous clothes, catty comments, and emotional showdowns--but along the way it plumbs some genuine sadness. No one can be simultaneously overblown and utterly sincere like Elizabeth Taylor; the movie is mired in the morality of the time, but her performance makes Gloria's mixture of grief and anger seem immediate and genuine. --Bret Fetzer

Customer Reviews:

HOT!! HOT!! HOT!!.......2007-03-08

I saw SOME of this movie as a child and was told to leave the room because it was for "grown ups"..Well I knew I had to have it and
I am glad that I got it..This movie is filled w/allll of the good stuff..
extra martial affairs, alcohol abuse, love, hate, greed and class.

Ms. Taylor is at her best, this movie is fabulous!! I have given it to friends to watch and EVERYONE raves about how they cannot believe this movie was made in 1960...gritty and charming!!

"Liz IS big. It's the picture that got small".......2007-03-07

Elizabeth Taylor was one of the most beautiful women in the world back in 1960 and she's always been a very talented actress. As the promiscuous model that finally fell in love, Taylor was the best thing in the dated, overly melodramatic, often ridiculous movie that was adapted from the John O'Hara's novel (written in 1935). I did not read "Butterfield 8" but I can't believe that the author of "Appointment in Samarra, and "The Lockwood Concern" wrote the stuff the cheap soap-operas are made of. Liz was big and she deserved her first Oscar but there are so many bad things about the movie - uninteresting characters, uninspired acting by the male protagonists, horrible irritating musical score - just a few of them. I read that Taylor hated the move when she was making it and she hates it now - I don't blame her. Taylor - Yes, the movie - no

BOTH Fullscreen and Widescreen!.......2007-02-05

It's a guilty-pleasure movie for sure, but I like those. And i LOVE that we, the consumer, can actually CHOOSE and not have it dictated to us whether we wish to view "Butterfield 8" in 'Widescreen' or 'Standard' (Fullscreen).
Of course, this DVD release was manufactured in 2000, and 7 years later, we are not often given a choice. If 'Gone With The Wind' can (and is) a full-screen presentation, please do NOT insist that, say,'Valley of The Dolls'-- a guilty pleasure if ever one existed--MUST be available ONLY in letterbox since its release last year-- it ruined an otherwise lovely retro 60's style deluxe DVD issue of it. But that's another review...
THANK YOU, WARNER HOME VIDEO for titles such as 'Butterfield 8' that you offer with both Fullscreen and Widescreen versions available.
Oh, and though I am in the minority, for me Ms. Taylor's performance was even better here, more nuanced, in 'Butterfield 8' than in 'Virginia Woolf'- her 2 Oscar performances. "Butterfield" may be glossy and a tad trashy, but her performance elevates it to ACADEMY AWARD gloss 'n trash :)
(Very good supporting performances here also by the catty friend of the mother of Taylor's character 'Gloria', ditto Dina Merrill; with Eddie Fisher just fine as Gloria's ex-stepbrother, or whatever he is. Also in 'Butterfield 8,'-- 8 years prior to portraying Streisand's mother in 'Funny Girl', Kay Medford has some fun with the role of the proprietor of a motel "Gloria" will visit on occassion...Every occasion she can :)

As MGM soap opera, as conventional romantic tragedy, the movie is flavorless, but not impossible, and Liz is all right..........2006-12-23

Liz would seem to have been ideal casting for the role of a defiant call girl, but she didn't like the part: "The role they want me to play is little better than a prostitute," she protested... Most actresses would enjoy the chance to play a B-girl, but Liz never coveted the showy roles, she never played whores or drunks or nuns or aspiring actresses... Her audience wanted to see her in sensational roles, but she preferred being proper...

Rewritten, the edge taken off, John O'Hara's Gloria Wandrous emerges somewhat undefined... The movie is so cautious that it's never clear exactly how the girl makes her living... She models, apparently, but does she get paid for sleeping with men, or does she sleep with men simply because she likes to?

At the height of a family argument, Gloria confesses to her mother that she was the slut of all time, but there is no evidence of this on screen... As in "The Last Time I Saw Paris," Liz--as girl-about-town--is pallid, almost prissy... She doesn't have the freedom to portray amoral characters... She doesn't have the manic self-destructiveness the part requires... The script makes the character another of Taylor's tragic roles: Gloria Wandrous is a woman, mistreated by her man, who dies of unrequited love...

Like the conception of its heroine, the movie is infected with an enervating morality: once a sinner, the message goes, always a sinner... Deep down, this MGM Gloria feels that her indelible history of nights on the town has disqualified her for the likes of a respectable man... Self-convicted as a bad girl, she knows she's doomed... Much more than the novel, the film emphasizes Gloria's lust for respectability... Weston Liggett (Laurence Harvey), the wealthy Yale man, is her one big chance for graduation to the classy life of yachts and weekends in the country... It's as if the character wants to enter the world a younger Taylor so ably embodied in "A Place in the Sun." O'Hara's tough, precise, lovingly detailed novel has been transformed into Metro soap, a lament about a sort of hooker with a persistent desire for suburbia...

But there are moments: the wordless opening scene, Gloria stained and rumpled after a night with Liggett; Gloria trading cracks with her mother's sardonic friend, and with her best friend's girlfriend; Gloria convulsed in tears during an argument with her meek mother (Mildred Dunnock).

Taylor and Laurence Harvey mix like oil and water, but her scenes with Eddie Fisher, who plays her platonic, disapproving buddy are strongly build... Eddie gives her quiet support, the way Montgomery Clift always gave her strength on screen...

Her big scene is her confession to Eddie about how she got started in the life: she was seduced by a house guest when she was thirteen, and she liked it (very wide-eyed, very high-pitched and piercing here), she has always 'liked' it! The confession scene is a Taylor trademark during this period: in "Raintree County," "Cat on a Hot Tin Roof," "Suddenly, Last Summer," and here, confessions dramatically lit and photographed are the local points of her performances...

Liz gets the character's self-pity, her sentimentality, her loneliness; she can do the smart answers, the head lifted in defiance... She plays, in short, with an authority that had deepened since "Giant." In "Butterfield 8," she dominates the way a star is supposed to dominate even if, finally, the role lacks definition...

Pure, campy fun.......2006-12-20

'Butterfield 8' is a movie that is good in the same sense that novels like 'Valley of the Dolls' are good: they are pure, campy fun. Dramatic? Yes. A little soap opera-ish? Maybe. Was this film really worthy of an Oscar? That's debatable but I think Elizabeth Taylor did deserve a heads-up for her portay of Gloria. In another actress's hands this movie could have turned into a disaster but Liz somehow manages to pull it off. Chronicling the life of a call-girl was a risky subject for a major motion picture in 1960. One thing's for sure: this movie is not boring. It will have the viewer hooked from the first minute, wanting to know what will happen next. What is most pleasant about the movie is it does not have a happy ending, which would have made a somewhat cheesy film even cheesier. I enjoy watching movies where the characters are flawed and the undertones are dark and sinister. If you're tired of cheerful, happily-ever after movies then you will probably enjoy this.

Average customer rating:

Decent flick...Would recommend to poker fans/Stallone fans
TEXAS HOLD'EM POKER and various hustlers on the make
This movie is tight.
A heartfelt tribute to Cincinnati Kid
Awful

Shade
Starring: Patrick Bauchau , Mark Boone Junior , Tony Burton , Gabriel Byrne , and Jason Cerbone
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
ProductGroup: DVD
Binding: DVD

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Similar Items:

High Roller - The Stu Ungar Story
Avenging Angelo [Region 99]
Get Carter
Eye See You (aka D-Tox) [Region 99]
Spartan

ASIN: B0001XAQB4
Release Date: 2004-05-25

Description

The hand is quicker than the eye in LA's underground gambling scene, hustlers getting hustled and fortunes ride on every deal. Three small time grifters devise with a plan to beat the ultimate card mechanic- The Dean. But a seat at The Dean's table doesn't come cheap

Customer Reviews:

Decent flick...Would recommend to poker fans/Stallone fans.......2007-05-20

The movie all around wasn't bad, but not to say it was anything memorable. It does throw some twists and turns. A short-lived section of the movie with Jamie Foxx and his antics, Sylvester Stallone and his ability to "play it cool". Some of the acting could have been better, the movie was pretty short as well. I liked it, but again I've seen better.

TEXAS HOLD'EM POKER and various hustlers on the make.......2007-03-29

This movie, starring Sylvester Stallone as a master TEXAS
HOLD'EM POKER player, with other competitors, played by the
charismatic, laid back, and relaxed actors Gabriel Byrne, and
Stuart Townsend, has that typical, surprise ending, that will
knock most people's socks off, as was the case with "Nine
Queens" or "MatchStick Men", for example. You really don't see
it coming at all, just when the movie seemed to have reached its
peak.

Among the strong points of this picture, is the tasteful
soundtrack, that is modest, not drawing the attention of
viewers from the story, or the quality wide-screen release, or
the fine acting.

The editing is innovative, as it tries to avoid a one -
dimensional unfolding of the story, by presenting multiple
flash-backs, at the start and towards the middle of the movie,
allowing the audience to catch up with who is who, and where the
movie is heading, so the story unfolds rapidly, wasting no time.

Obviously, the movie's, when taken as pure entertainment, works
fine as successive grifters and poker players using various
cheating techniques, get "eaten" by their fellow "carnivores" in
one scam or other. The audience will perhaps consider that they
had it coming to them, sooner or later.

Melanie Griffth is lovely, and Stallone does an outstanding job,
in bringing a certain world-class status to the movie, by
simply being himself, both enjoying themselves over the course
of the 90 mins.

Clearly, this is a fun picture for people who've enjoyed poker
and card games, and cynically wonder whether there is something
else going on behind the scenes when certain participants
repetitively meet success. Theatrical or DVD release, SHADE is a
winner.

This movie is tight........2007-01-04

Great cast, excellent plot, and just enough twists to keep you guessing. Props to R. Paul Wilson for teaching the non-magicians proper slight of hand.

A heartfelt tribute to Cincinnati Kid.......2006-04-28

One of the most delicate factors to take into account at the moment you decide to make a remake (of such emblematic movie like the Cincinati Kid has meant through the yeras)is to play hard, to strike with a sonorous punch, giving that touch of genius, and avoiding to fall into common places.

The anecdote has been told too many times (The Big Lewoski, for instance), the classical challenge between the young and inexpert apprentice and the master champion.

The poker is probably, one of the most exciting card games. It demands from you the absolute and total domain of the wide gamut of psychological profiles; cold blood and that intuitive perception about when to play hard or retire. In this sublime instant of concentrated eternity, the copious adrenaline and the cold sweat so typical of this special moment.

Sylvester Stallone and Gabriel Byrne were specially effective I this hair raising movie where the emotional tension reached a true climax in the last sequence.

Awful.......2006-04-19

God, what an awful movie. So cliched it's funny. Even great actors can't help this script. This has all been done before, and better. Go watch The Cincinatti Kid, The Hustler, The Sting, or Rounders.

Average customer rating:

Just see it - you won't regret it!
Great Aussie Movie
Golden Oldie from Oz
Sundowners
The Sundowners

The Sundowners
Starring: Deborah Kerr , Robert Mitchum , Peter Ustinov , Glynis Johns , and Dina Merrill
Director: Fred Zinnemann
Manufacturer: Warner Home Video
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Becket
Home from the Hill
The Heiress (Universal Cinema Classics)
The Arrangement
Madame Curie

ASIN: B000JLTRG8
Release Date: 2007-01-23

Amazon.com essential video

An episodic account of a family of roving sheepherders in Australia. Paddy Carmody (Robert Mitchum) loves being "someone whose home is where the sun goes down," but his wife (Deborah Kerr) and teenage son are tired of the nomadic life and want to settle down. Director Fred Zinnemann (From Here to Eternity) takes a wonderfully laid-back approach to this likable material, emphasizing the refreshingly grown-up relationship between Mitchum and Kerr as well as the stark scenic attractions of Australia--a continent that, in 1960, was still unfamiliar terrain for the movies. Puckish, portly Peter Ustinov provides the lion's share of the comic relief. One of the high points is a sheep-shearing sequence (the normally self-assured Mitchum was so nervous about accidentally harming an animal that he required a few bottles of beer for fortification before shooting the scene). The Sundowners scored five Oscar nominations, including acting nods for Kerr and Glynis Johns, but won none. --Robert Horton

Description

In the Australian Outback, the Carmody family--Paddy, Ida and their teenage son Sean--are sheep drovers, always on the move. Ida and Sean want to settle down and buy a farm. Paddy wants to keep moving. A sheep-shearing contest, the birth of a child, drinking, gambling and a race horse will all have a part in the final decision.

Customer Reviews:

Just see it - you won't regret it!.......2007-04-26

Fred Zinnemann's on the top of his game with much better form with The Sundowners, one of those films that's so good that there's really not much to say about it other than to reiterate what a total delight it is to watch. It's a perfect mixture of great albeit largely invisible craftsmanship and extreme likability, managing to fill its cast from top to bottom with people you'd want to spend time with in a film without a single mean bone in its body that somehow manages to avoid turning into sentimental slop. Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr, both sporting very passable Aussie accents, are a perfectly matched pair who truly do seem to belong to each other despite their differences while Peter Ustinov's scene-stealing Remittance Man who becomes part of their extended family by default is all the more memorable for not giving into the actor's instinctive tendency to overplay his hand (his scene about the captain's hat or his definition of being cashiered as "a promotion from the army to civilian life" are throwaway standouts). One of the best times I've had watching a movie for ages.

Along with a good transfer, the DVD also includes the original trailer and a four-minute black and white behind the scenes short narrated by the author of the novel the film is based on.

Great Aussie Movie.......2007-04-06

I have been waitng for the release of this DVD for a very long time. I first saw the movie in 1960 and also watched it every time it was shown on television in Australia. The film is based on the original novel by well known Australian author Jon Cleary (which I might add that I have a copy of all his 32 books) Jon is 90 years old and his latest book entitled "Four-Cornered Circle" has just been released. I can't recommend this movie enough, it is a GEM. It was made in the early days of the film industry in Australia and it was necessary to include well known international film stars such as Mitchum, Kerr, Ustinov and Johns in order to sell on the international market back in those days. Most of the other actors were Australians. This is not the case anymore as Australian films now stand on their own two legs. Great movie, go out and buy a copy, you will not regret it.

Golden Oldie from Oz.......2007-03-08

Good script. good actors / actresses. Fabulous scenery.
A real Ausie gem. The comparison of Deborah Kerr in this and then The King & I, is quite the opposite. Robert Mitchum & Glynis Johns add to this exceptional movie.

Sundowners.......2007-02-23

I've always loved this movie for the Dimitre Tiomkin score. Unfortunately a sound track album was never released (as far as I know) and to have the dvd is wonderful.

The Sundowners.......2007-02-19

Wonderful scenery of Australia (where it was filmed) and a delightful story of a family moving sheep across the country. Ida, the wife, and her son want to settle down and buy a house. Paddy, the husband, likes the freedom of living off the land, sleeping in a tent and spending what money they have on beer and gambling. Robert Mitchum and Deborah Kerr are the stars and they are absolutely perfect in the roles. Their great working relationship reflects the fact that - in reality - they were very good friends. Peter Ustinov and Glynis Johns are superb in their supporting roles. This movie resulted in Deborah Kerr's 6th Academy Award nomination. Unfortunately, she did not win though she really deserved the Oscar. I loved this film.

Average customer rating:

Good Flick
A great start fades away quickly
"Friendship is like the morning dew..."
Soggy Political Drama
A Bitter SMile TO a Bitter Man's Heart

True Colors
Starring: John Cusack , James Spader , Imogen Stubbs , Mandy Patinkin , and Richard Widmark
Director: Herbert Ross
Manufacturer: Paramount
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Money for Nothing
The Pentagon Papers
The Stickup
Max
The Grifters (Miramax Collector's Series)

ASIN: B0000683DG
Release Date: 2002-08-20

Amazon.com

This is a by-the-numbers tale of political chicanery and fallen idealism, but it works because of several strong performances. James Spader and John Cusack play law-school pals whose college idealism quickly falls away once they reach the real world. Playing against type, Spader is the straight arrow who goes on to work for the Justice Department. Cusack is the slippery conniver who parlays a job as an aide to an aging senator (Richard Widmark) into a springboard to elective office, all the while cutting corners, compromising his integrity, and breaking rules. For good measure, there's also romantic backstabbing. The film tends to get a shade heavy on the moralizing as Cusack slides further down the slope to outright corruption; Spader practically carries a sign saying, "I have the moral high ground." Still, both actors give their characters an interesting spin, and it's always good to see Widmark back in action. --Marshall Fine

Customer Reviews:

Good Flick.......2007-01-10

A wonderful early 90s film that still holds on to the lure of classic 80s movies. It a pretty good story about two young men and the paths they take out of law school. If your a cusack or james spader fan it is a movie to see. In addition if you ever attended the University of Virginia Law School or as an undergraduate, it is a must see. The first 20 minutes or so of the movie takes place on grounds. You will recognize many places including, the rotunda, mincers, michaels bistro, brown college, the tracks by wild wings and more.

A great start fades away quickly.......2003-11-28

If you decide to watch "True Colors", I would advise you to watch about the first 30 minutes and then turn it off. The opening of the film is great, and will have you really gripped, but the movie will soon turn very familiar and you'll lose interest. By the end, you will almost laugh at the ridiculous conclusion.

The two main stars are James Spader and John Cusack. They meet the first day of law school at UVA when Cusack smashes into Spader's car on move in day, starting a huge fight between the two. No points for guessing that they will end up roommates. They overcome this tough start and become good friends. Cusack comes from rather humble roots, to say the least, while Spader has a somewhat higher pedigree. In fact, he is dating the daughter (Imogen Stubbs) of a senator (Richard Widmark). It doesn't take long before Cusack is lying left and right about his background, trying to impress everyone. This continues to Capital Hill, when both young men are hired in Washington. Spader is an assistant DA, Cusack works on Widmark's staff.

From here, you can guess what will happen. Knowing that Cusack is such a rotten apple, nothing will be a surprise. He will double cross his "friend" so many times, and in so many cruel ways, that it's implausible that Spader could even stand in the same room with him.

I won't give the story away, but I will say that the end of the movie, when Spader gets his "revenge" is so corny and unbelievable, I would rather have had him pull out a gun and just shoot him. That would have made more sense than this. All in all, the film starts out great and will ultimately leave you cold.

"Friendship is like the morning dew...".......2003-08-19

I think this is an excellent movie. Good screenplay, good idea, great direction, great acting. John Cusack and James Spader make you believe they are actually best friends, they own their characters and the friendship between their characters.

Soggy Political Drama.......2003-07-24

True Colors stars John Cusack and James Spader as law school buddies on very different career trajectories. Spader plans on going into the Department of Justice and resigns himself to serving the public. Cusack, on the other hand, is an extremely ambitious politician. I bet you can tell where this situation is headed! Despite their differences, they remain friends, even after Cusack steals Spader's girlfriend from him.

The movie tries to examine issues of power and corruption. Unfortunately, the plot is so stale and obvious that it fails to add anything new to this arena. Spader and Cusack are fine, but Imogen Stubbs, as the woman they both love, is terrible. She's a Brit playing an American, but her accent creeps in far too often, which is a huge distraction. I'm a big fan of John Cusack, but this movie is definitely one of his lesser accomplishments.

A Bitter SMile TO a Bitter Man's Heart.......2000-06-12

Gentlemen.. This film is quality.. THough I am very bitter. This film brought a smile to a bitter man's face. It is fantastic. Simply wonderful.. Friendship at its finest.. Go Jets. Hockey RUles.

Average customer rating:

Suture: remembering someone eslse's past
Brilliantly put together with masterly maintenance of tone
thrilling, intelligent, symbollic and I just can't forget it
body-horror marvel
People see what they want to see

Suture
Starring: Dennis Haysbert , Mel Harris , Sab Shimono , Dina Merrill , and Michael Harris
Director: Scott McGehee , and David Siegel (III)
Manufacturer: MGM (Video & DVD)
ProductGroup: DVD
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Love Field
The Deep End
Clean, Shaven - Criterion Collection
Far from Heaven
The Long Goodbye

ASIN: B000053VAY
Release Date: 2001-01-23

Amazon.com

This black-and-white neo-noir is written and directed by Scott McGehee and David Siegel, who also teamed up for 1999's Lush. Vincent Towers and Clay Arlington are half-brothers who meet for the first time at their father's funeral. The two share such an uncanny resemblance that when Vincent decides to fake his own death, he tries to substitute Clay as his body. Clay, amnesiac and not quite dead, finds himself the inheritor of both Vincent's money and his rather pressing problems. A fine plot for a suspense movie as it is, but McGehee and Siegel throw in the added twist of having Vincent played by a white actor and Clay by an African American. Oddly enough, the choice works, and raises the piece from a thriller to a meditation on the nature of identity. Suture includes several other interesting stylistic riffs as well: Clay's plastic surgeon is named Renee Descartes, and his psychiatrist works in an office decorated with huge Rorschach blowups. It's a pity Suture was so little seen in its original release--it offers both a compelling suspense plot and tasty mental candy to chew on. --Ali Davis

Description

A stunning first film (The Hollywood Reporter) by the independent writing/directing team of David Siegel and Scott McGehee (Lush), Suture takes a non-traditional approach to casting, placing an African-American actor in the role of an identical brother to a white man. Equally evocative is the choice to shoot in Black and White, adding further contrast to the striking noir style and dark undertones of this exceedingly smart (Variety) psychological thriller. You can barely tell Vincent and Clay apart. So, when these two estranged half-brothers meet for the first time,Vincentthe prime suspect in their father's murderdecides to kill Clay so he can swap identities and pin the crime on his new-found sibling. But Clay miraculously survives the attempt on his life. And now, suffering from amnesia and thinking he's Vincent, Clay must prove that he's not the killer before he's sentenced to life for the crime he believes he didn't commit!

Customer Reviews:

Suture: remembering someone eslse's past.......2005-04-07

"How is it that we know who we are?" These are the opening words of the film Suture, delivered in voice-over by Dr Shimoda. He starts at a violent twist near the conclusion-which gives an unexpected answer to his question--but then decides that it would be better to start a little nearer to the beginning. So we fade to Clay Arlington stepping off a bus to be greeted by his estranged half-brother Vincent Towers. Vincent and Clay, it would seem, are almost physically indistinguishable--a fact which had inspired Vincent to invite Clay to pay him a visit. It seems they saw one another for the first time at the funeral of their father whom Vincent is suspected of having murdered. And Vincent now plans to kill Clay whom he hopes will be mistaken for himself. Clay miraculously survives though both mind and body are shattered. Plastic surgeon Renee Descartes will reconstruct his face; psychotherapist Shimoda will reconstruct his identity. Unfortunately, they, like everyone else, believe him to be Vincent and so, little by little, fit him into the mind and body of his brother. Pictures, videos and reminiscences with a relative supply Clay with pieces of a puzzle that are shaped like his own but which, once in place, paint a very different picture.

Clay was working-class; Vincent, a rich dilettante. Clay was warm, earnest and unassuming; Vincent, cold, deceitful and calculating. They were really very different people, as different as night and day. In fact, the differences in their characters are so pronounced they actually manifest themselves physically. The actor playing Clay is tall, beefy and black while the actor playing Vincent-his near twin-is short, thin and white. Elements of the dialog are then very much at odds with the visuals that receive, in turn, even greater thematic focus through the brilliantly articulated contrasts of the black and white cinematography. In the end, you are presented with some rather interesting, if perplexing, questions about the puzzle of identity: what does it mean to remember someone else's past? to graft bits and pieces of one life onto the withered remains of another? to eventually mistake oneself for the self of another? Who exactly have you become? Who should you want to become? Clay's answer is an uncomfortable surprise and Dr Shimoda can only wonder, finally, "How is it that we know who we are?"

Brilliantly put together with masterly maintenance of tone.......2004-06-07

An anecdote doing the traps recently had an Australian tourist order a "short black" in a diner in the States. An electric hush fell over the clientele. The tourist meant a cup of coffee made with hot water not milk and without cream, milk or additives. Clearly, being black in America remains a significant negative element in that country's psyche or at least so it seems to outsiders. A number of American films continue to address that issue in any case. SUTURE is one of the better ones and has the quality of dream in that the viewer has their nerves tested throughout not knowing what is to come next. With a consistently high level of suspense, excellent use of sound, and stunning in black and white, with an intriguing take on identity, race and memory, this is one to own.

thrilling, intelligent, symbollic and I just can't forget it.......2003-01-02

I've seen this movie eight years ago and still think about it. This movie +simply is very, very intelligent and true. And in the same time it is very simple. It's about the racial madness of the american society. I can't think of better words to discribe the essence of this picture than those of James Baldwin, the negro american poet.
'You don't see me, I'm your black cat. You don't love me, I see that.'
and also:
'Okay. I'm your ... baby, 'till I get bigger!'
We, the viewer, see what happens every day in the american society (and of course in any other racist society): the black man is not seen, he simp